Cat's Eye
by IrisCarlyle
Summary: What if the characters of Once Upon A Time were Clan Cats fighting over land? What if Rumpelstiltskin was the only magical being? Swanfeather is a young warrior, and the leader's only child. She is determined and witty and so curious about that thing called the Wasteland. She is positive to find the truth about the Clan that hides in the shadow, and the tom with the barbed tail.
1. Intro

**A / N **Don't even ask me how this abomination to literature was born. But alas, it has been so I'll try to make it the least confusing as possible…

**LightClan**

**Leader – **_Snowstar – _Black and White she-cat with blue eyes (_Snow White_)

**Deputy – **_Charmclaw – _Large golden/blonde time with brown eyes, _Duckpaw (Prince Charming)_

**Med. Cat – **_Bluefairy – _Blue/gray she-cat _(Blue Fairy)_

_Novapaw – _Ginger she-cat _(Nova)_

**Warriors – **

_Carveheart – _Kind brown tom _(Gepetto) _

_Redwolf – _Black and gray she-cat with 'red' eyes _(Red Riding Hood)_

_Grumpyfang – _Dark brown tom with dark brown 'black' eyes and large fangs _(Grumpy)_

_Swanfeather – _Lithe white and gold she-cat with green eyes _(Emma)_

_Woodnose – _Light brown/black/gold tom with white tabby markings and amber

Eyes _(August)_

_Cricketchirp – _Small gray tabby tom with green eyes _(Jimminy Cricket)_

_Nightdance – _Handsome black tom _(Prince Thomas)_

**Apprentices – **

_Novapaw – _See Med. Cats _(See Med. Cats)_

_Duckpaw – _Black and Gold tom with green eyes _(Henry)_

**Queens –**

_Cindermoon – _Pretty gray she-cat _(Cinderella)_

**Kits –**

_Sunsetkit – _Black and ginger tom _(Cinderella's son)_

**Elders – **

_Oldwolf – _Gray she-cat with 'red' eyes _(Granny)_

_Their territory consists of lush forest called _Paradise _where the water runs pure and it is always called in dew. Meadows and clearings and caves line this forest and it is truly a paradise. Mice, fish and birds live throughout the forest and in winter it is caked with snow. Spring and autumn always bring rain but in summer all but the lake and Underground Rivers dry up. The camp is made on top of a ledge surrounded by pines towering over the lake. Dens are made from jutting out rocks and the leader's den is near the edge, where a cave is made in the shape of a crown. It borders the Wasteland and Dark Willows Crossing. _

**DarkClan**

**Leader – **_Millstar – _Jet-black she-cat with silver ears and blue eyes _(Evil Queen)_

**Deputy – **_Huntarrow – _Dark golden tom with a lithe build and brown eyes _(Huntsman)_

**Med. Cat – **_Deadwhale – _Bland gray tom with gray eyes _(Dr. Whale)_

_Monsterpaw – _Gray tom with dead, ugly green eyes. His fur is patchy and smells of decay. _(Frankenstein's monster) _

**Warriors –**

_Coreheart – _Beautiful black and gray she-cat with evil blue eyes _(Cora)_

_Hookocean – _Tailless handsome brown and gold tom. In substitution for his tail he has barbed wire. _(Captain Hook)_

_Glassmagic – _Off-white and blue tom with amber eyes _(Mr. Glass)_

_Madhat – _Black tom with brown head and blue eyes _(Jefferson)_

_Eldermill – _Silver tom _(Henry Senior)_

**Queens – **

_Blindwitch – _Blind gray she-cat _(Blind Witch)_

_Dragonscream – _Molted brown she-cat with reptilian green eyes _(Maleficent)_

**Kits – **

_Eggkit – _White tom _(Maleficent's child)_

_Snakekit – _Black she-cat with reptilian green eyes _(Maleficent's child)_

_Crumbkit – _Golden she-cat with blue eyes _(Gretel)_

_Broilkit – _Brown tom with amber eyes _(Hansel) _

_This territory consists of an old burnt forest called _Wasteland _and the cats that live in here are either captured or evil. Prey is little here, which means that most of the cats starve. A river runs through the center from LightClan's territory and things grow nearby, but it'll take years before there is significant growth. They mostly feed off of the fish or birds. The camp takes shelter in an old gully and all but one shelter is continuously hit by rain or bad weather. These cats are hard-set on taking Paradise for themselves. This territory borders Paradise and Dark Willows Crossing._

**Loners**

_Gold – _Magical golden tom with brown and white in his fur. He is small and underestimated. _(Rumpelstiltskin)_

_Bell – _Companion to Gold. Pretty white she-cat with blue eyes. _(Belle)_

_Bay _– Dark brown tom, unknown to Gold and Bell. _(Baelfire)_

_Dark Willows Crossing is a small forest of Willows that separates the border between LightClan and DarkClan. No one ventures in here because strange things are said to lurk. It is completely covered in willows so the ground is always shadowed. Eerie place, and whoever comes in never comes out. It is rumored that a cure lives in here, to make the wasteland the once luscious place it once was. But even daring Millstar refuses to venture within. _


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One **

**_Swanfeather's Point of View_**

"Come on Swanfeather, you have dawn patrol." A paw prodded her shoulder and she was forced to blink open her eyes. The young warrior had forgot that she was to lead it today; with a growl she pushed herself up and out of the Warrior's den.

It was Nightdance who had awoken her from her slumber and a he pointed his nose towards two waiting cats by the entrance.

As she made her way over to the two - Woodnose and Cricketchirp - she watched the sunrise over the lake with a purr. Green-leaf was on the way and she could already feel the warmth of the sun on her pelt. "Where are we going?" Asked Cricketchrip, making her snap back into reality.

She thought for a moment before answering. "How about we border the wasteland?" Even the thought gave her prickles along her spine. She had patrolled the border between DarkClan many times, but the sight of dead forest always made her gasp.

Cricketchirp, one of the senior warriors, nodded before dashing away into the forest. Woodnose quickly followed and Swanfeather brought up the rear.

In time Woodnose had fallen in step with Swanfeather. He was a little bit older but Swanfeather's closest friend next to her son. She purred, head butting him with a purr. He returned the gesture. "So... Duckpaw's father?" He pressed.

She cringed; the topic had been going for a long time. Ever since she was transferred to the Nursery as an old apprentice. Swanfeather was the bane of the family when she had gotten pregnant so young but she held her head high and soon later she had been accepted again. Duckpaw was a blessing though, and no one denied that. "I told you," she snapped, "he was a loner." She hated this topic. Her mother sent her glares for 9 months; she didn't want that to continue.

He shrugged, "I've never seen another cat here except for the two Clans..." he explained, pressing.

But Swanfeather hadn't heard him; she was running again. She didn't tell him that the Loner belonged in Dark Willows Crossing and that when she had found out she was pregnant she refused to see him anymore. "We're here!" Chirped Cricketchirp and so Swanfeather rushed again.

She was greeted with the sound of growls and when she turned a clump of ferns she greeted the sight with shock. Three DarkClan warriors where standing only inches from the border. They growled at the two, and soon three as Woodnose rushed up to join his Clan mates.

"Hookocean... Coreheart... Madhat..." hissed Cricketchirp in a not-so-friendly greeting.

Coreheart - the black she-cat - sat down and flicked her ears for her comrades to do the same. Swanfeather watched in awe at the three cats, she had never before met a DarkClan cat before.

Their pelts mixed in with the burnt trees behind them, mere shadows of death. She took a minute to look over the tom with the barbed tail and cringed.

Where his tail should be there was a foot-length of silvery metal that was tied to the bone. Fur had long since grown over to make it look like a tail but the spots where infection had once owned his skin weren't hard to point out. It looked painful but he seemed to manage.

"What do you want?" He snapped at her, drawing her eyes to his own. She snarled in response, drawn back to reality.

"Hookocean, quiet yourself." Hissed Coreheart and the tom clamped his mouth shut, but his eyes still glared at Swanfeather. She got this one, pesky vermin.

"You go on your way and we ours." Said Cricketchrip, the only one who looked unthreatened.

"And what if we don't?" Hissed Madhat.

"Then we'll kill you." Retorted Cricketchirp, fur ever so bristling.

"Good never kills, didn't they teach you that in apprentice hood? Silly little bug!" And Coreheart snapped upwards. But she did not attack; instead she flicked her tail for her warriors to follow. "Come on Hookocean, Madhat. Millstar will want to hear about this..." And they curled away into the dank darkness.

Cricketchirp didn't look satisfied. "Come on you two, I think we need to talk to Snowstar. If Coreheart is bad, I imagine Millstar being terrible..."

"But Eldermill is her father, and we all know what he's like." Responded Woodnose as they began to trot towards camp.

Swanfeather cocked his head, "that was Millstar's mother?"

Cricketchirp nodded, "only until a few moons ago their leader was Graystar - Snow's father -"

"- Wait what!" Swanfeather was confused. Her grandfather was a DarkClan leader?

Cricketchirp sighed and turned on her. "A long time ago there was Graystorm and Jewelheart who were warriors here. Millspell was mates with Horsepelt. As of old Clan custom, when Jewelheart and Horsepelt both died, the tom was to leave and be mates with the single she-cat. Snowstar though grew up here, as the tom couldn't take any children with him. Graystorm became leader, him and Millspell had kits - Blindwitch and Dragonscream - and he made Millspell deputy. Graystar died a few moons ago and Millspell became leader."

Swanfeather nodded, "but this custom is... no longer here right?"

Cricketchirp shook his head. "No, it is very much alive. But, thank StarClan; no tom/she-cat's mates have died recently. But the next tom's mate that dies in DarkClan will be moving here."

Swanfeather's heart began to race, but she still asked. "For who?"

"For you Swanfeather..." Breathed Woodnose sadly.

"And which tom's are the options?" She asked, all this information ringing her head dry. Why did her mother never tell her of these things? _To protect you from her father's fate, _her inner mind told her.

"Huntarrow - the deputy - and. Hookocean. Sadly, I don't think Millstar will die anytime soon, she has all her 9 lives. But Coreheart could die any minute..." Said Cricketchirp.

"Yes, it looks like Millstar is giving her the most wind-battered den and the least amount of food." The two cats exchanged purrs. Coreheart was obviously disliked.

"And Hookocean is mated to Coreheart I presume," she hissed.

"I'm really sorry Swanfeather." Said Cricketchirp, the camp was in few.

"Can't I just take a mate inside the Clan?" She hissed desperately.

Woodnose shook his head, "the Clan Code forbids it. Once your mate dies or disappears... then you are up for grabs."

Swanfeather cursed under her breath but camp was in sight. She could not change her fate.

"Come on, lets go talk to your mother..." Answered Cricketchirp, trying to bring up Swanfeather's mood.

She nodded, and they disappeared into camp.


End file.
